Every dog has its night
by chloemcg
Summary: One-shot. Edgeworth wakes up from a nightmare and his puppy is the only one who can bring some comfort to him?


**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from the Ace attorney franchise, I do sort of own Pess...or this version of her, anyway.**

**Every dog has its night**

* * *

_The small space was tight and closed off, it made little Miles Edgeworth feel stiflingly claustrophobic as he tried to keep his breathing even and slow._

_He was unable to move, his lungs felt deflated so it was difficult to breathe._

_He didn't quite know what was happening, however his chest felt tight and his body wouldn't stop trembling as he stared dead at the two other occupants of the enclosed place. He heard a loud and distinct ringing in his ears as he covered his ears to drown out the constant noise that derived from the two bickering men. The boy with the distinctive gray mop couldn't look away, he could only stare at the two sole adults —there was the boy's father, a defence attorney named Gregory Edgeworth, and Yanni Yogi the court Bailiff._

_The child's heart pounded hard in his ears and sweat dripped down his face as he reflected on what brought him into this dire situation._

_It had been a started out as a normal day at the Japanifornia courthouse. Gregory Edgeworth had taken his only son, Miles, to observe a case that had been ongoing. Gregory had faced the infamous prosecutor, Manfred Von Karma, for the very first time but (Although he lost) Edgeworth managed to prove his suspicions that Von Karma had blackmailed the defendant of the case into confessing to being an accomplice to the murder of the victim of the crime._

_In response to this discovery, Manfred Von Karma got penalised._

_It was the first that the veteran prosecutor had ever received and, unbeknownst to both Miles and his father at the time, due to the poor conduct Manfred performed when it came to people involved with the cases he took, he was swiftly punished with some disciplinary actions and it almost cost him his perfect record._

_Not-too-surpringly, Manfred shown his immediate scorn for his follies being uncovered and sent maleficent scowls to the attorney-at-law._

_After the courtroom session was finished, Gregory had entered one of the court's lifts with his son and a bailiff named Yanni Yogi. The two Edgeworth boys planned to go out afterwards to have a father/son trip to alleviate the stress of everything that happened during that session. Everything had been going smoothly until an earthquake struck just as the bailiff and Gregory and Miles rode the lift and left the three of them in a stuck lift._

_They were trapped._

_It had been two and a half hours since then and the grownups were beginning to get restless and it was only inevitable that they would begin squabbling._

_Yanni clutched at his own throat as he raised his head and sucked in quick yet desperate breaths. He was standing on his knees as his wide eyes stared up at the ceiling and it was becoming plainly obvious that the bailiff was becoming distressed. Gregory was sat on the floor with his back pressed against the cold steel walls, one leg was folded on the ground whilst the other was being kept upright whilst it was being used to support his right arm. Miles himself was sat opposite his father but was also seated on the floor._

_Yanni panted heavily as his eyes wildly darted about._

_"H-Help...I can't breathe!" He yelled with frantic desperation anchoring his tone._

_Gregory didn't bother to adjust his askew glasses as he snapped at the court bailiff, his patience already on the end of its tether._

_"Quiet! I said quiet! You're not making this any easier!"_

_The boy just sat there, somewhat stunned._

_His father was normally a very calm and collected man and hardly ever got angry or even raised his voice like this, he was more of the kind of man who always used a calm and methodical approach to life whether it be investigations or whether it be raising his son. He always wore a calm and logical demeanour wherever he went and whoever he spoke to. The younger Edgeworth deeply admired those traits that his father had and these were some of the things that made him want to follow in his father's footsteps when he grew older._

_Miles always saw his father as the greatest of men but, he couldn't help but flinch slightly when he heard that cold and steely voice._

_It made him feel uncomfortable._

_Yanni snarled and kept clawing at his own throat._

_"Stop breathing my air! I'll...I'll stop you!"_

_Without wasting another second, Yogi lunged like a wild animal and grabbed Gregory's collar as he screeched right in his face. The attorney-at-law didn't move an inch but scowled at the man with a stoic expression hardening his face and didn't say a thing as he let the delirious man rage on._

_"Stop breathing my aaaaair!"_

_Miles cried out in fright in watching this man try and hurt his father and scream at him._

_He couldn't take it anymore._

_His young mind was in turmoil and seeing the other man go to attack his father made the situation all the more difficult to properly register. His eyes swelled with tears as his gaze fell on a small object that lay next to his feet; he wasn't able to think very much in his oxygen-deprived state and all he could think about was protecting his dad._

_He picked up the item and hardly even hesitated before he flung it as forcefully as he could at the feuding men._

_"GET AWAY FROM MY FATHER!" He cried._

_He threw the firearm with as much strength as he could muster._

_The last thing he heard and could remember vividly was the sound that went off afterwords —it was a sound that haunted his every waking moment, it was a sound that made his blood run cold, a sound that sent a huge tremor down his spine._

_It was a most harrowing sound:_

_The sound of a gunshot._

**_BANG!_**

* * *

Miles gasped as shot up from his previous laying position in his bed.

The thick blankets that were covering the man had fallen to his lap in a slump of a heap, the pillows sunk down a bit, and the bed let out a loud 'creak' of a sound the instant the occupant had sat up so abruptly.

The gentlemanly prosecutor blinked several times to try and refresh his vision, hoping to both clear up the leftover bleariness or sleep and to make absolutely sure that he wasn't still stuck in that lift. His mind was a fog of chaos and fear as he started to hyperventilate, raising one of his arms to grip at his own chest where his heart was, he could feel it racing beneath his grasp.

A cold sweat chilled his skin and he was shaking as he gripped to the blankets that had originally covered him, a disturbed look plastered on his facial features and he licked his dry lips as he started to calm down and think more rationally.

Edgeworth's rapid and shallow breathing slowed whilst he tried to reassure himself.

"It was...a dream, it was just a dream."

To be honest, this wasn't the first time he had that memory come back to haunt him.

It had been sixteen years so, even though it shouldn't have been, it was still fresh in his mind and heart. He knew that he wasn't the one directly responsible for his father's death but those devastating thoughts had continued to plague him such as, what would have happened if he hadn't thrown that gun? Would his father still be alive if he hadn't tossed that firearm?

What would life be like now if that blackout _hadn't_ shut down the lift that day?

Even though everything had been cleared up and he didn't cause his father's death, it still brought him a boatload of pain and anguish. The sheer thought of that nightmare recurring made him break out into goosebumps and fear-induced sweat started to seep from his pores.

He would have that horrific dream quite often and it would chip away at his heart and cause it to crumble.

That memory, he thought he would have been over it by now, but it appeared that he was wrong. Tears sprung to his icy blue eyes, and a soft, plaintive groan rumbled from his throat as he tried to recollect both his composure and his scattered thoughts.

He let loose a tight shudder of a breath as he closed his eyes to shut out the tears that threatened to fall.

It was a wasted effort, however, since the tears fell anyway.

He reopened his eyes when he heard something move about in the darkness.

It was really dark in his bedroom, pitch black actually, and all Edgeworth could make out were the outlines of furniture, silhouettes and shadows. Even still, it didn't take long for him to spot a little ball of something on the floor —it was hard to tell what it was thanks to how dark it was.

When he heard it high-pitched whines, it clicked in his mind as to what it was.

It was a overly-fluffy furball of puppy.

The small puppy trotted up to the bed and looked up at Edgeworth.

The pup was brown and white in fur colour with the exception of some black on her folded ears and a darker brown muzzle. Pess had a pink nose that wiggled on the end of her muzzle, some freckled markings on each of her cheeks, large dark brown eyes, and she was exceptionally fluffy on her back.

Edgeworth had found the small pup lost and wandering the Japanifornia streets on a rainy evening, she was fearful and rather malnourished but she had this look that melted the tsundere prosecutor's hardened heart. It hadn't been even a month since then and, while she was clearly dependent on him, the pup also did her best to try and comfort her master when he was down.

The gentleman prosecutor eventually come to call her Pesu, or Pess in less formal moments.

He didn't know why he chose the name "Pesu" of all names but it was the best he could come up with at the time.

Pess whined softly as she cantered across the room towards the foot of the bed.

Her ears were down and her eyes were enlarged with unspoken concern. She looked worried for her master but, of course, any dog worth their salt would be able to tell when their owner is upset and Pess was no exception. The Collie/Saint Bernard mix proceeded to leap on to her owner's lap, the sudden weight of her small body and the sounds of something thudding on the bedsheets was proof of this.

Pesu whined softly as she raised her paw and placed it atop Edgeworth's hand, her eyes were huge and pitiful-looking...as a matter of fact, if the magenta-clad prosecutor hadn't known any better, then he would have said that there was a worried yet sympathetic look glinting in her eyes.

Miles didn't say anything, he just pondered on what was his current state. His eyes were overflowing with tears and his heart felt unbearably heavy in his chest; he had been in this perpetual state of grief for so long and it still kept him up at night...but then again, what childhood trauma didn't stick?

He just looked at the puppy he held in his arms and stroked her back with one of his fingers, using said fingertip to brush her fine and tufty fur coat.

"That's a good girl, Pess..." He murmured.

The prosecutor exhaled a shaky breath through his mouth, more tears swelled up in his eyes.

He scooped up the ball of fluff and nuzzled his tear-stained face into her fur.

The pup didn't move much and just leaned in closer to her owner's touch, she didn't move an inch but did lean her head forwards and started to lick the tears off of his cheeks.

The gentleman prosecutor started to sniffle and then he broke down into a series of sobs and sniffles, tears pooling and cascading down each of his cheeks as he released some of the pain he felt. He hung his head so low that his distinctive gray mop of hair also hung low and concealed his face. He didn't weep like this often, especially not in any sort of company, but he found that when he was in the company of the little pup he'd rescued, it soothed his soul a bit.

Having the young dog there helped him.

Besides, Pesu didn't seem to mind this in the slightest and simply started to wag her tail in an attempt to pick up her master's mood and her nose easily detected the scent of despair radiating off of her master.

Edgeworth just kept crying, holding on tight to his canine companion.

He sniffled and broke down into a fit of sobs as he spent his pain and sorrow on the canine's back.

It felt like an eternity had slipped by until Edgeworth had finally ceased sobbing and crying. Perhaps doing a bit of breathing would benefit him. He took a few calming (yet trembly) inhales and exhales to calm himself as he looked down at the puppy he was cradling in his arms.

He found that she had fallen asleep and had taken to resting her small head against his arm.

The prosecutor couldn't hold back the faintest of smiles as he gingerly scratched the pup behind one of her folded black ears.

Pesu...this sweet little pup was going to be his entire world. He never thought that _a_ _dog _would be able to help him get over his night terrors; whenever he did have them he would just try and get back to sleep since he didn't wish to be a burden on anyone by not sleeping and then going through a day at work of snapping at people and being a generally grouchy person.

Miles lay down on the bed and tried to get comfortable. He thumped his head back against the pillow and pulled the blankets up so they were covering both him and the sleeping fluffball of cute that had curled up on his chest and was snoring so softly that the sounds were almost nonexistent. He gripped one of the four edges of the blanket with one hand and started to raise his arm so he could use a sleeve to wipe away any lingering tears on his cheeks.

His eyes drifted closed and he exhaled slowly and deeply.

He smiled gently at the sleeping Collie/Saint Bernard cross pup and he started to whisper to her.

"Thank you so much, Pesu...I'd be lost without you."

And, thanks to the little puppy's comforting presence, Edgeworth slept better then he had done in so many years.

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**A/N: Here is a new one-shot story and with some cute fluff!**

**I hope you lots enjoyed some Edgeworth puppy cuteness because, to be honest, I love adorable, fluffy puppy cuteness!**

**I also put some Edgeworth trauma in there but who should come and help him overcome it?**

**I hope you enjoyed it, guys!**

**-Chloemcg **


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